The present invention relates as indicated to an adjustable socket wrench, and more particularly to a socket wrench which has adjustably movable jaws to accommodate and closely engage upon adjustment the exterior surfaces of nut members or the like to be rotated by the wrench.
Adjustable socket wrenches of the type referred to are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 1,279,950 to Wenzel, for example, discloses a wrench having a plurality of gripping jaws each of which is operatively connected to an arm in turn pivotally secured to an adjusting nut. The nut threadedly engages an elongated threaded shank, and adjustment of the nut upwardly or downwardly relative to the jaws serves to cause the jaws to converge or diverge so as to permit the proper spacing of the jaws for snugly fitting around the member to be engaged by the wrench. U.S. Pat. No. 1,760,338 by Billmyer, Jr. similarly discloses an adjustable wrench having a plurality of gripping jaws, with the jaws being carried by arms which are pivotally connected to a core threadedly engaged with a shank the upper end of which contains an adjusting knob. By rotating the knob, the core moves upwardly and downwardly thereby resulting in the movement of the gripping jaws toward or away from each other depending upon the direction of movement. French Pat. No. 436,882 also discloses gripping jaws pivotally carried by a core member threadedly engaged with a shank the rotation of which moves the core and consequently the jaws inwardly or outwardly relative to each other.
In all of the above arrangements, the gripping jaws are relatively isolated from their supporting structure, As a result, excessive torque is applied to the gripping jaws when the wrench is used in the normal manner of tightening or loosening a nut member or the like. It will be understood in this regard that the wrench is normally actuated, as shown in the patents referred to, by means provided at the end of the wrench opposite to the gripping jaws, either by an integral handle or a socket opening in which a separate socket can be engaged. When the supporting structure for the jaws rotates, such rotation is of course transmitted to the gripping jaws, but the lack of support for the gripping jaws in the gripping regions results in excessive torque on the gripping jaws which in turn leads either to limited use of the adjustable wrench or premature structural failure thereof.